stained horns

[ultradennis]

All,

First time posting ... Long time lurker;)
I have found the site very valuable for good hunting tips and great stories....

I have a question though. The attached picture is a deer I shot last year during rifle (I will tell the story in a later post, I enjoy the stories of others so I guess I need to post my story).
Anyway, I hung the horns out at my parents for the critters to clean and then my dad boiled the horns for me. Unfortunately, as you can see there are stains on lower ends of the horns and I am wondering what I can use to remove the stain so I can mount the horns on a plaque.

Thanks in advance,
ultradennis


http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/521/4299horns-med.jpg

[dieseldude]

i dont know, i heard some bleach might help but get a second opinion.
welcome to "the site"

[stevebrandle]

Welcome to the Site. Glad you got past the lurker stage. :D Bleach is a little harsh for the skull bone because it keeps on eating away the bone.

If the stain is just on the surface, a little Scotch pad or fine steel wool will get it off. Something else to try is "beauty shop" strength peroxide and then flushing with water. I whitened up a bear skull with it this summer. Let us know how it works, OK?

[Mr. 16 gauge]

20 mule team borax.....used it to whiten a boar skull mount that I did for a friend.

[twodogsphil]

Why do you want to remove a natural stain? The antlers are lighter towards the tips because thats where they have been polished more. If it was me, I would leave them like they are -- they have a lot more "character" in the natural state.

[Craig M]

Welcome to the site UD,

I too would keep them as is. Looks cool and it looks like you got a nice little farm buck. Where I hunt, the farms are far and few, so the antlers on the bucks always have that brownish tint to them. All the way from the tips to the base. Looking foreward to reading your story.

[ultradennis]

Thanks for the info everybody

twodogsphil - I should have clarified how the stains got there
The horns were all one color ( naturally, a little darker at the base) but when my dad boiled it, the lower part of the horns were sitting in the water and stained it. I don't want to completely make the horns white throughout but I would like to blend in the stained part with the upper part of the antler. Right now it looks like a defined water mark.
I was just looking for some suggestions as to how and what to clean it with that wouldn't do any damage.

I am planning on cleaning them this weekend and will let you all know the results with pictures.

Thanks again,
ultradennis

[The Nailer]

ultradennis - Welcome to a great site. I would strongly suggest you do not bleach them. I did that a couple years ago trying to remove blood stains and some imbedded dirt. I left them in the bucket too long and they cam out an unnatural white. Fortunately for me I was only going to use them to make handles for a turkey carrying sling, not mount them.

[redwinger00]

I have done 3 european mounts on deer that I have gotten by boiling the skulls in water. The first rule I use is never let the horns touch the water. Secondly I wrap the antlers in aluminum foil before I start boiling so the steam doesn't stain the antlers either. Just my 2 cents.:)

[redwinger00]

If I knew how to post a picture I would post a picture of the 5 point I did this year.:confused: :(

[stevebrandle]

redwinger,

go to the "your picture" tab on the home page and folow the directions to post pictures. If not, email it to me sbrandle@chartermi.net and I'll post it for you.

[wild bill]

try checking out www.taxidermy.net/forums/ someone over there should be able to help you or try sending one of the taxidermist sponsers from here a pm.

by the way welcome to the site.

[RIP]

20 Mule team is fine. Peroxide is the recipe of choice for euro mounts. Swab with cotton ball. Wait a day and swab again if needed. they'll get lighter as you go. I have way to many animal bones tucked away in all corners of the house. If you arent getting enough off, use the steel wool and then swab with peroxide. I personally like to clean up some racks a little bit. It depend on how white they were when they dropped. Alot of horns get blood on them. You gut em then drag em by the horns.
Blood turns brown.

I like to think they should look like they would after the buck just sat through a four hour rain storm. If he's a UP cedar buck, they should be darkies. Thats the way it is. Anyways, experiment. I have all different ones. Some really white, some have bark hanging off. They come out of the woods in all different condition's. Besides, have ya ever seen a buck running around in the woods with a plaque glued to his a.... Whatever looks good on the wall and whatever the ladies will tolerate is the best.

[stevebrandle]

Here is redwing00's mount he mentioned.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=4372

[omerjim]

If you would like your horns to look natural again try rubbing them with linseed oil, this will bring back the "Fresh" look. Thus helps with older sets of horns that look dried out also.

[stevebrandle]

Good tip jim. I can see where the linseed oil would work real well.

After I boiled my bear skull for about an hour, (just long enough to get the meat to peel off) I let it dry and then set it out in the sunlight every day for the bugs to do their thing and to start the bleaching process. The bugs do a good job cleaning up the hard to reach spots like the nasel passages etc.

After a month of setting outside, I started swabbing peroxide on the outer surfaces to whiten them up. Now, the peroxide I used was bought at a beauty supply store and is called something else than peroxide.(it's for bleaching hair) For the life of me I can't remember what it was called, but I didn't putter around that store very long to get familiar with the terms. The main ingrediant is peroxide, but at about 30% solution which is much stronger than the stuff you get in the drug store. It worked well and I repeated the coats for about a week, recoating whenever it dried up.

It was fun to do it, but a lot of work. Still, the taxidermist wanted $75 to do this and I spent about $10 on the peroxide solution.

[ultradennis]

Well, I know I said I would post the story and I am finally doing it. Sorry it has taken me so long but I have a long list of excuses.:)
On the top of the list a 5 month old son and a new house.
Anyway, I guess I should provide a little background... Sorry for the following to be so long winded ;)

I took up hunting about 5 years ago. Not sure why but a buddy of mine bought a new bow and I asked if he wanted to sell it. He did, so I bought it. Now I needed a place to hunt. I got lucky there, My parents own 10 acres in Clarkston which butts up to a lake and a field that is about 30 acres and so I decided to start there. The first 2 years I just bow hunted. I was quite fortunate and got a doe my second year and saw a few deer in the meantime.

On to the real story. A friend at work is into deer hunting who would go up to a friends cabin in Waters for bow and gun season. I got invited up there a couple of years ago and have been going back ever since. I can see why people love to go up north for the whole experience of the "hunting camp".

Boy am I rambling. Well, opening day of gun last year I found a sweet spot on public land and was up in a tree about 20 ft and low and behold hear comes a deer. This deer not only was walking towards me but had a little head gear! This was the first buck I had seen hunting up in waters and wanted to make it count. Well, I couldn't believe it but he walks within 20 yds of me and then turn broadside...Yes!!!! I was just about ready to pull the trigger and he took 2 steps and hides his body behind a big oak tree. He doesn't have a care in the world and is browsing away while I am suffering trying to hold the gun up and waiting for him to take 2 more steps so I can pop him. Finally after what seems like hours he steps out. I have the cross hairs on the sweet spot and pull the trigger....nothing.... I friggen forgot to take the safety off!! I click the safety off, which what I thought made enough noise to spook him. It didn't, I popped him in the lungs and off he went running. He crashed about 30 yards away and he was mine!!!

Well, That is it in a nutshell.
Anyway, thanks to all for the advice and I have started to clean it. It needs another cleaning to try to blend it in a little more. When I am done I will post the pictures.

ultradennis

[stevebrandle]

Thanks for sharing the tale Ultradennis, I enjoyed hearing a new hunter story. I'll be watching for the pictures. :)